Closure
by TT96
Summary: "You know, sometimes, even though two people are so much in love with each other, they're just not meant to be together." Rose and Dimitri know this more than anyone. Sadly though, at times, we must all face closure, no matter how much it hurts. ONE-SHOT


**Hey, everyone!**

**So this is another idea that came to me, actually I think it was a couple of months ago. I started slowly by slowly writing this about a month ago. It has been finished, but unedited, for about a couple of weeks, and I finally decided to fix it up and upload it. It is a ONE-SHOT.  
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**For those of you wondering, I am still going to continue my other three stories, "Bonded in More Ways Than One," "Dear Roza, From the Outside Looking in," and "The Ghost of Rose's Past." Unfortunately however, I must honestly admit that I have nothing written for either one of them. I know, sad, right? But please go ahead and read and review- hopefully I will be able to update them soon.**

**I really hope you enjoy this One-Shot I wrote. Please read and review to let me know what you think! I want to know your opinion on this.**

**Thanks,**

**Enjoy!  
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I was waiting for her. As usual.

It had been seven years since I'd last seen Rose, who had been acquitted of all charges for murder of the Queen. I'd left the very week after. With Tasha.

Leaving had been the most difficult thing in the world to do since I was still in love with her. But it had been for the best; I knew that, which is why I had left.

That day was as vivid in my mind as yesterday's events. I was constantly reminded of the rush of tears that had fallen from her eyes when I'd told her that there was no love left in my heart that could be given to her. I'd broken her heart so badly when I'd told her that I was moving on with Tasha. The desperation in her voice had been evident. I, also, had been on the verge of sounding desperate and even crying. I had known so well what I'd been doing to her. I'd known so well how much my relationship with Tasha was a vulnerability to her. Yet, even with this knowledge, I'd pushed her buttons way too far.

I was so wrong, so bad now. The memory of being Strigoi burned within me. The selfishness and monstrousness that comes along with it is a given. I must have kept some of those monstrous traits to be able to continue to live the life I've been leading for so, so long. Seven years to be exact.

Seven years I've been with Tasha. And for seven years I've continued to fall even more deeply in love with Rose. Don't they always say that absence makes the heart grow fonder? I was living proof that that statement was completely true.

My feelings for her never stopped. Even that day I'd said to her that my love had faded. By throwing the very words at the love of my life, I'd dug myself inside a hole. I had been such a coward! I couldn't have just told her that I was sorry and that I loved her. That we could have started over. No, instead I had had to twist things up when she was so easy to forgive me.

I honestly had no clue why I'd even called this meeting together. What did I expect to happen? She would just drop everything going on in her life, I'd do the same, and we would both live happily ever after? I had to get real. I'd already blown my chances with her. This meeting was just to get some closure, closure I should have felt long ago.

I was sitting in a booth of a coffee shop as I waited for her. This was our meeting spot. Naturally, she was late. Luckily, I was used to her tardiness, due to our training sessions together. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

However, thinking about our training sessions also brought along sadness. We'd always had those times together, just the two of us. Not ever had I told anyone, but they had always been my favourite part of the day. I had looked so forward to them. Knowing I was going to see her had been what had gotten me out of bed in the morning.

Suddenly, I heard the bell of the door sound, indicating the opening of the door. I felt a jolt of nerves rush through my entire body. As anticipated, in walked Roza.

My eyes were glued to her from the moment I saw her. She hadn't changed much over the years. She just looked a bit older, but her beauty was even stronger than before.

She was stopped at the door, not moving, obviously looking for my table. My eyes looked her up and down, over and over again, until finally, our eyes met. With that one contact, sparks flew, and even though we weren't touching, I felt a certain fire inflame itself within me, one that I knew all too well.

Regarding her, my eyes lit up, and she seemed to do the same. With that stunning smile on her face, she began moving her legs in a walk towards me.

Unable to contain my excitement over seeing her again, I rose from my booth. I started walking towards her too.

Our eyes never broke contact. A bubbly feeling swelled inside of me.

Finally, _finally_, I managed to reach her, in the middle between the door and my booth. We both stood there for a few seconds, eyes locked. Then, I reached out to embrace her with a warm hug.

She wrapped herself in my arms, just like it was supposed to be. She was meant to fit right inside my arms. It had been her place forever and would remain that way for all of eternity.

Since I was about a foot taller than her, my chin rested on her head. I smelled that gorgeous dark brown hair of hers, hair I loved; it smelled like honey. Her body smelled the same as it had during our last encounter. A bit of perfume added though.

Her nose leaned against my body, taking me in as well. _This_ was bliss. _This_ was how it was supposed to be. I never wanted to let go.

"Roza," I mumbled into her hair, a teardrop falling without my permission, onto her head. She felt it and shook a bit.

"Dimitri," she answered back in a precious whisper, cuddling closer to me.

I prayed that time would freeze over and never move forward again. That we could both just be trapped in this golden moment forever. However, after a few minutes, I knew it was time to let go. With all my will, I mustered up the strength to do so. Immediately after, I took hold of her left hand and led her over to our table.

I gestured her into the seat in the booth across from me, and waited until she was properly seated for me to sit down on the other side. Silence followed as we gazed into each other's eyes, past memories flooding back inside of us.

The utter quietness was interrupted by the waiter, a good-looking man in his mid- twenties. Some coffee shops don't have waiters to assist- it's called 'you get off your lazy butt and go to the counter yourself'- but others do, such as this precise one.

He asked politely, "Can I get you anything?" I was surprised that he wasn't flirting with Rose. I expected most young, good-looking men to do so with her, because of her stunning looks. I guess some men _are_ respectable after all.

I nodded towards Rose. "A hot chocolate with whipped cream on top please. Oh, and a brownie," she said shyly. _Good, Rose_. The waiter hid a smile at her cuteness too.

He turned towards me. "And you, Sir?"

"Same," I answered in a calm voice.

"I'll be right back," he replied before carefully turning away.

Once he was gone, our silence broke out again. Staring indefinitely at each other seemed to be an interest to our minds.

However, I was here for a reason. I was like a lawyer, needing to close a case. Except that I needed to close my case with Roza. I needed this closure in order to carry on with my life.

I began, "I can't believe it. It's been so long."

"Yeah, I know. You've barely changed. You look even more han-" She caught herself before making an entire slip. My face threatened to beam into a smile knowing she still was attracted to me as I was to her.

"So, how have things been going? What's new with you ever since… ever since…?" I stuttered out, trying not to remember that very day. I didn't want to show my pain in front of her.

"Things have been pretty good, I guess. You?" _ Small talk, good. Nothing confrontational. Yet._

"I've been, well I suppose I've been good. So how have things been going with you ever since you were granted freedom?" I chuckled humorlessly as there was nothing funny about it. Like I did when Rose had first entered the coffee shop, I looked and found that there was no ring on her ring finger. I was so paranoid that I _had _to verify her status again. "Are you, uh, with anyone now? Adrian?" I hated bringing him up, but there was no way around this topic. There was only so much small talk we could converse about.

She seemed hesitant before replying, "Oh, yeah. We've been together ever since you… left. We're doing great. We have twin girls." That stung. That really, really hurt. So badly, you have no idea.

"Wow. That's wonderful. What are their names?"

"Stephanie and Morgan. They're both angels, but at the same time, they each have their own different ways in resembling me- so not so much angelic." She laughed. Oh, how I'd missed her laugh, her laugh that was like sunshine to me. It always brightened up my days.

"Great. I'm super happy for you." What I really wanted to say was, _How could you do this to me? After all we've been through? Did you not take my feelings into consideration at least _once_?_ Ugh, I was such a hypocrite because, "Actually, Tasha and I have a son as well. Samuil." I could swear I saw a look of sadness cross her face, but it was gone before I could really be sure.

Her voice turned ice cold. "Cool. Tasha and you- sounds like things are going marvelous." _Oh, Roza, you were never as good at self-control as I was._

"Mm-hmm," I purred through gritted teeth. _Yeah, we _are_ doing marvelous. She's a wonderful woman. Oh, and by the way, did I mention that I am still and always will be totally in love with you? And while I'm at it, I think you should dump Adrian. _Yeah, I was _definitely_ going to say that.

There was awkwardness in the air. It was like both of our tongues were cut off and we couldn't speak. I was grateful the waiter decided to come by then. He dropped everything we'd asked for down on the table.

Rose began nibbling on her brownie while I sipped at my hot chocolate. _What to say, Dimitri, what to say?_

No words were needed from me though.

Rose dropped her brownie, took a sip of her hot chocolate, and then slammed her fist on the table. "Ugh," she groaned loudly. "I can't keep up this act any longer! Please just _tell me_, what is the meaning of this _get together_?" She practically spat the words.

I searched her eyes for any hint of emotion. I found frustration, anger and _hurt_.

Great. She was already upset. How would I break my idea of closure to her slowly? No doubt she would be angry. Or maybe, just maybe, the same thing was on her mind.

I started, "Roza, look. I don't know how to say this. But _that day_, that day broke my heart just as much as it did for you. If not, maybe more, because _I _was the one lying, and _I_ was the one who had to live feeling like a rotten liar, regretting every word I said for the past seven years."

"What are you talking about?" she stammered.

I shivered even though there was no breeze. "Roza, when I rejected you back then and told you that my love had faded, I was lying. It wasn't true. It wasn't true!" I exclaimed, trying to shake the memory. "I loved you so much back then and I love you even more now." And if things could get any worse, she started to cry. She was crying. Because of me.

I reached across the table and caressed her hands before grabbing them firmly with mine. "And as much as I want things to be different, as much as I wish I could go back in time seven years and erase every lousy word I said to you, I can't! I really can't! What's done is done and-"

"What did you expect me to do? Tell you I'd dump Adrian, ruin my kids' lives and jump right into your waiting arms? The real world doesn't work like that, Dimitri. It just doesn't. People don't always get their happily ever after. And that sucks, it really does. You know why? Because I'm in love with you too. I always have been and I always will be. These feelings for you will _never_ go away, no matter how much I continuously try and try. The result? I can't commit to anyone else. Sure, I'm with Adrian and we have a 'happy family,' but you see this finger?" She pointed at her ring finger. "It will always remain ring-less. It has been seven years, Dimitri, seven years. I just can't do it. Adrian doesn't really mind though- I'm sure you remember him, the type of guy who doesn't need a ring to show commitment. Nevertheless, he loves me. He knows I love him too, but he also can sense some feelings within me that are directed at another man. We never talk about it or anything, but I can tell it stings. He knows he only has a part of my heart."

"I know exactly what you mean," I replied empathetically. Her eyes urged me to continue, so I did, "I don't _want_ to marry Tasha. I love her," I noticed her flinch, "but not like I love you. And no, I knew before coming into this that I have to be reasonable. No matter how much I wish, I know you can't just drop your present life and I can't do the same. I just needed this though. I needed to see you. I needed… closure." A tear swelled in my eye at the word. I gasped for air, trying to gain back my strength.

She nodded her head in understanding. "I thought… Ugh, I'm so stupid, but I actually thought I would be able to face you today, you know? I sincerely thought I could do it; I could come in here, talk, and not breakdown. What is wrong with me? What is wrong with _us_?"

"I don't know, Roza-"

"No, but seriously? All these years, I'd wake up thinking about you and go to bed thinking about you. Not to mention how I'd personally make time every day just to think about _you_." Her face turned thoughtful as she remembered.

I trembled at our similar pastime. "I'm pathetic, aren't I? I was so _stupid_! Had I told you how I really felt, we wouldn't be here discussing our love as a problem, we would be here thinking about our love as being the best thing in the entire world that could have possibly happened to us. I messed up. The blame's all on me." I was rambling, venting my feelings. I'd bottled them up for seven whole years. Who else could I have explained all this to? My son? _Tasha_?

"Dimitri, forget it. The past is the past. You can't change that. It's out of our control. Now, we just have to live with the consequences." She sighed, then repeated her earlier thoughts, "I thought I could do this. I gave it my all. I tried. As I should have anticipated, it's just too hard though. To difficult for me to handle."

My pulse sped up with fury. "What are you saying?"

"I can't… I can't do this anymore. It's too much for me to be around you. It _hurts_ too much, Dimitri! I can't see you again. I have to move on. I don't know if I'll be able to, especially since I just added seven more years of additional pain due to seeing you again, but I have to try. I have to." As if my heart wasn't already ripped apart enough, she had to shred it into even more pieces. I felt like each statement she made was like ripping another small piece from my heart each time. It was like what you'd do with flower petals on a flower: she loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not. And by the end of my flower- heart, really- it would be 'she loves me not' and there would be nothing left to me. My heart, something with the potential of being truly beautiful with the proper care, would be torn apart for good.

I squeezed her hand lightly. I said, "I wish things could have been different. For us. Why can't two people who are so incredibly in love with each other be together? No complications, no twists. Just plain bliss powered by love."

Shockingly, she had a very wise answer. "You know, sometimes, even though two people are so much in love with each other, they're just not meant to be together. I've heard that before, you know." She was so controlled. She'd changed a lot. I guess that was reasonable however, because of everything she'd been through in such a short amount of time. I missed her happy-go-lucky and not-so-serious ways from before everything had happened to her. The way she used to be. The way she'd be so happy that she'd light up like a Christmas tree. Her smile would beam a million watts. Unfortunately, she'd gone through so, so much. Too much. She would never again be the same person. A highly-serious side would always play around in her head. That wasn't going to change now.

"I have too, Roza. I have too." And I regretted ever hearing the words. Maybe if I'd never heard them before, I would have had an excuse to be not-so-wise and complain further. I didn't want to listen to them. I _hated_ the words. I didn't want to be smart. I wanted to be with my Roza forever.

I hadn't noticed until Rose pointed it out, but I was staring at our intertwined hands. "Dimitri, look at me." I didn't look, just continued to stare at our hands, hands meant for each other. "Look at me. Dimitri."

I looked up just in time for her to witness a tear crawl down my cheek. "What, Roza?" Our eyes never broke away from each other.

At my shaky words, she began to cry all over again too. I reached across the table to brush her tears away with my hands. "Just like always," she acknowledged. "I know this is going to be hard, Dimitri. But just always take comfort in the fact that…" She paused, taking in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a blink second before reopening them again, "I will always love you."

Her eyes said that she was being dead-serious. My heart stopped altogether. They were the exact same words she'd told me when we'd been on the bridge and she had been trying to kill me. Her very precise words. I knew she remembered, which is why she spoke them again. Back then, she'd said them before her attempt to kill me. It was almost the same now. She wasn't literally killing me, but her words were destroying the last of my soul. Not on purpose, of course.

This time, I would not mess up. I would not leave here with my last words being 'That's what I was supposed to say.' I would _say_ what I was supposed to say. I would not leave here without telling her how I really, truly felt.

"I will always love you too, my Roza," I breathed out. No matter what, she _would_ always be my Roza. That would never change for as long as I lived.

Her eyes portrayed so much emotion. I saw her undying love in them. That's when I knew that our love for each other would never fade. It would continue to grow stronger and stronger. Some people are destined to love each other, just not to be together. Things would always be this way for us. Sadly, our souls would stay burdened with so many wonderful memories, but that didn't matter. Because if I lived and didn't love her, my life would be worth nothing. I realized that my entire life was about loving her. We'd shared an unforgettable past, one that could not be washed away. Our love was a powerful chapter in each of our individual lives. It was _our_ love story.

I had feared her next words throughout this entire encounter of ours. "It's time for me to go now," she whispered in a teary voice, choking on a sob as she tried to hold it back.

Tears stung my eyes before they dripped down my face. We gazed at each other for a long moment before I finally nodded yes. "I'll miss you, Roza."

"You already know I will too." She let out a sad laugh- I'm sure you know the one. It's where you're really upset, sometimes even crying, and you let out a shaky, humorless laugh.

My voice turned hoarse all of a sudden. "I guess this is goodbye, then."

"Yeah," she said, voice cracking with that one word. "This is goodbye."

She started tracing the print-lines on my hands, which were still joined with hers. How I would miss this feeling. I would miss her warm hands in mine. I would miss everything I'd once known and shared with her. But reality was already ready to give me a big slap in the face.

Her eyes met mine again as she softly mumbled, "Goodbye, Dimitri."

I couldn't avoid the inevitable any longer, no matter how much I dreamed, so I answered back just as calmly, "Goodbye, my Roza. I wish you all the best in life."

Her next smile did not reach her eyes, but at least she gave it a go anyways, giving me one last gift before she left: one last hint of her mesmerizing smile. And in return, I gave her one of my own, with words so hard for me to say, although ones I knew I needed to offer her. "It's okay. Don't worry about me. Go. Live your life, Roza. Never look back with any regrets, and I know you'll have a wonderful life ahead of you with an amazing family to cherish. If you can't have it with me, I want… I want you to have it with someone else who makes you happy."

She stayed silent, but with those very last words, took back her hands from my own, and left the booth. My hands and whole body ached with emptiness as she hesitantly made her way to the door. She only looked back when she reached the door.

I was given the opportunity to look her over one last time, but what I really focused on was her face. She stared back at me with the same intensity, memorizing my features as I did with hers.

I couldn't help myself; I did that I- point to your eye- love- point to your heart- you- point to the person your words are directed at- with my fingers. A true, genuine smile rested on her face at last. My eyes gleamed with delight as she did the same thing back to me.

She turned away from me.

My eyes saw her hands grab the door handle, pulling the door open. A sharp breeze came in, lifting her long, black hair, and then came rushing through the entire coffee shop. Somehow, it managed to reach me and tickled its way down my throat.

I coughed a little at the sensation and my eyes watered from the cold, as I thought of how I would never ever again see her brown eyes or her warm smile. I would never see _her_ again period. I sniffled in discomfort from both the cold and this realization.

I was coming down with a bad case of closure.


End file.
